DCMA has enlisted 14-points to assess the project schedule quality. The article explains each of the 14-points in detail and in simple language. Knowledge of these points shall help you to prepare a better and efficient schedule that can be prepared, managed and executed.

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Civilverse Admin 4 April 2021
DCMA 14 Point Schedule Quality Check
civilverse.org/dcma-14-point-schedule-quality-check
Table of Content for DCMA 14 Point Schedule Quality Check
1. Introduction
2. Why check project schedule health?
3. Types of Project Schedule Checks
4. DCMA 14-Point Schedule Quality Check
5. Conclusion
Introduction
The project schedule is an important part of project management. It contains the project
activities aligned in a sequential manner along with their individual time duration and
inter-dependencies. The project schedules can further be incorporated with the resources
and their respective cost.
The project schedule is a powerful tool to control the time taken by a project. The
sequence and inter-dependencies of the activities define the critical path for the project.
The Defence Contract Management Authority (DCMA), USA has set the guidelines for the
quality assessment of project schedule. The DCMA 14-point schedule quality check
guidelines were first published in 2005 for defence and aeronautical projects. The
guidelines are being globally used for the development and maintenance of schedules.
Why check project schedule health?

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A project schedule helps in decision making, cost control, resource planning, monitoring
and tracking the progress. Thus, it is necessary to have a well-constructed and maintained
schedule to accurately achieve the objectives.
The assessment of the project schedule ensures its’ precision and accuracy. The
assessments are of two types qualitative and quantitative.
Types of Project Schedule Checks-
Types of Schedule Check
Qualitative Assessment-
The qualitative check of schedule is the determination of its’ ability to be executed. The
schedule is assessed if it is realistic and executable. The qualitative assessment requires
the team’s experience.
Quantitative Assessment-
The quantitative assessment of the schedule is done on the basis of measurable
parameters. DCMA 14-point schedule quality check guidelines are widely used for
quantitative assessment of project schedule.
DCMA 14-Point Schedule Quality Check

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DCMA 14-Point Schedule Quality Check
1. Logic
The logic check ensures the schedule doesn’t have any incomplete activity that neither has
the predecessor nor the successor. Such activities may affect the critical path and project
duration. DCMA recommends such activities are to be lesser than 5%.
The activities that have no predecessor and no successor can be linked to either the
project start milestone or the project finish milestone.
2. Leads
Lead is the negative lag. Lead signifies that the activity starts before the predecessor
activity ends. DCMA recommends having zero lead. The leads can affect the critical path
thus it is advisable not to have them.
3. Lags
The difference between the finish of activity and the start of its’ successor is called lag.
DCMA recommends activities to not have more than a 5% lag. The activities with lag
should be replaced with intermittent activity. For example, lag between foundation

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casting and machine installation to be replaced with curing period.
4. Relationship Types
There are four relationship types used to interlink activities namely Finish to Start (FS),
Start to Start (SS), Start to Finish (SF) and Finish to Finish (FF). DCMA recommends
more than 90% of activities should be Finish to Start (FS) linked. However, SS and FF are
also acceptable when it is the true link of activity but their use should be minimized. For
example, the casting of beams cannot be completed before the casting of the slab, hence
finish to finish relationship.
5. Hard Constraints
Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start No later Than and Finish no later Than are four
hard constraints used in project schedules. Ideally, there should be no hard constraints
but DCMA recommends limiting their use up to 5%. The hard constraints limit the logic-
driven behaviour of the schedule.
Hard constraints can create negative float.
6. High Float
The time by which an activity can slip without affecting the project completion is called
total float. The total float of 44 days is considered a high float. DCMA recommends
limiting such activities to 5%.
7. Negative Float
Negative Float represents the delay in completion. It is shown when a missed deadline is
being reported. DCMA limit for negative float is zero. As stated earlier, hard constraints
lead to negative float, as hard constraints hold the activities and indicate the upcoming
deadline is likely to be missed.
8. High Duration
The project schedule is a sequential arrangement of activities having discrete-time
duration. The work packages should be such broken that no activity should have a
duration greater than 44 days. DCMA limits such activities to be lesser than 5%.
Activities with high duration are difficult to track, measure and estimate resources. The
project and activity duration can be determined by any of the six methods listed here.
9. Invalid dates
The past dates in the forecast and future dates in completed activities are called invalid
dates. The invalid date check is useful for the project execution stage. The DCMA
threshold for this check is zero.

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The activities not yet started are to be ahead of the status date. The in-progress and
completed activities should be as per the actual dates.
10. Resources
The schedules loaded with resources are helpful in resource estimation. Ideally, all the
activities should be resource loaded but the DCMA has not stated any fixed criteria for the
resource loading. Thus, it is a flexible metric and it depends upon the organisation’s rules.
However, if the resource loading is done in schedule, then every activity should have at
least one resource allocated to it to avoid misbalance.
It is not necessary that every activity requires resource. For example, delivery lead time
and approval from authorities etc.
11. Missed Tasks
The tasks having their baseline completion date before the status date are said to be
missed tasks. The missed tasks should not be more than 5% of the total tasks. However,
the tasks that are likely to be missed but have the baseline completion date after the status
date are not considered in the threshold.
The missed tasks can affect the project completion. They are an indicator of poor
planning, mismanagement and poor resource estimation and allocation.
12. Critical Path Test
The critical path is the longest path in an activity network. To perform the critical path
test, identify any critical activity and increase its’ duration by x days and recalculate the
project dates. If the project completion date also increases by x days then the schedule is
said to have passed the test. The test ensures the fluid network with proper linkage among
the activities.
The failed critical path test indicates the missing inter-dependencies among the activities.
For such a case, the entire schedule needs to be reviewed and corrected.
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI)
The Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) is the sum of remaining working days on the
critical path and total float divided by the total remaining days. CPLI indicates the
efficiency required to complete the project on time. The target CPLI should be 1 but
DCMA suggests acceptance up to 0.95.
For CPLI lesser than 1, the delay is likely to happen and efficiency must be increased to
achieve the baseline completion. For CPLI greater than 1, the schedule has margin and
completion is likely to be done before the baseline completion.
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI)

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The Baseline Execution Index (BEI) is the ratio of total tasks completed to the total tasks
planned as per baseline till status date. The BEI indicates the efficiency of work done. The
target BEI should be 1 but DCMA suggests acceptance up to 0.95.
The BEI lesser than 1 indicates missed tasks. Thus, more effort needs to be put to cover up
the slippage.
The BEI greater than 1 indicates the schedule is ahead of target and likely to be completed
before the baseline completion. This may be due to the availability of unnecessary float or
underestimated resource efficiency.
Conclusion
The DCMA 14-point schedule quality check gives an objective method to evaluate the
schedule. The regular check with these metrics ensures the schedule is in better health.
The routine check also enables the manager to change their strategy as per the
requirement.
The full compliance to all the 14-metrics doesn’t imply that the schedule is feasible and a
non-compliant schedule isn’t necessarily a failure. The metrics are generally available on
the popularly used software like MS Project and Primavera p6 etc.
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